Supposedly a March 22, 1950 partially censored FBI memo has been released which suggests that so-called flying saucers containing little human-like creatures have been recovered in New Mexico. The subject of the supposed memo is 'Flying Saucers' and it is addressed to none less than the Director of the FBI (J. Edgar Hoover) from the Director of the Washington DC field office of the FBI. The supposed memo reads as follows:

"An investigator for the Air Force states that three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico. They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers approximately 50 feet in diameter. Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots.

According to Mr. (censored) informant, the saucers were found in New Mexico due to the fact that the Government has a very high powered radar set-up in that area and it is believed that radar interferes with the controlling mechanism of the saucers.

No further evaluation was attempted by SA (censored) concerning the above."

The memo seems to have been the result of an incredibly ludicrous breakdown in communication between an Air Force investigator and the Director of the Washington DC Field Office of the FBI. It seems that the flying saucer/aliens story in it was perpetrated as part of a hoax to sell bogus oil locating equipment by a lifelong con-artist named Silas M. Newton. By way of gossip the story made its way through the news media. In response the OSI conducted an investigation. From there it seems that the Air Force investigator was to (or thought he was to) report the gossip rather than any related facts per OSI/FBI files. Apparently, his report was misinterpreted by the DC FBI Director as being founded in factual governmental sources.The apparent misinterpretation seems to have resulted in the memo.

For those who find it too difficult to believe that such a ludicrous breakdown in communication could really have occurred there is another explanation for the memo that does not involve real saucers nor aliens. Newton supposedly claimed that the FBI told him that it knew he had fraudulently concocted his saucers/aliens story but wanted him to continue to spread it. Newton was so much a scam man that even if he asserted this it could not be believed any more than his other assertions. Nonetheless, it is possible that the FBI wanted the saucers/aliens story to be spread in order to have the Soviets think we might have alien technolgy. Under these circumstances the memo could have been written as it was and filed without a secret classification not through a breakdown in communication but as a conscious attempt to have it fall into the hands of and mislead Soviet informants. At least this explanation spares the scenario of parties with the highest clearances of U.S. intelligence in the day of J. Edgar Hoover relating to each other in official capacities like Abbott and Costello about who's on first.

The March 22, 1950 date of the memo was only five days after the most spectacular UFO sighting ever documented in U.S. history. That is, from March 15 - 17, 1950 in the town of Farmington, NM residents reported a supposed daily rampaging of hundreds of flying disks at times making 90 degree turns at high rates of speed and flying at all angles. At other times they are supposed to have flown in formation.

"Not of sufficient value that the taxpayers' resources should be wasted looking into them"

I wanted to respond to Scott but there was no reply button...

The government is extremely secretive with 30+ security clearances above top secret that we know about, so really we have virtually no idea as to where our tax dollars are going... more evidence that we do not live in a democracy.

This may all be true, but it is quite irrelevant to the topic, which is whether there should be an investigation of that 50-year old memo that John seems to be so hung up on.

The bottom line is that if we were being visited by humanoid aliens, there ought to be some reliable evidence for it, and so far, the best we can seem seem to come up with is a 50-year old memo of questionable provenance with a lurid third-hand story to tell. So I am as skeptical as ever, relying on the strength of Occam's Razor, the Negative Evidence Principle and the Fermi Paradox. Anyone who wishes may believe in humanoid alien visitation if they like, but, on the basis of available reliable evidence, that's religion, not science. And I don't do religion, and don't think the taxpayers should be asked to support it, either.

Scott I really think you have put your own spin on things. You seem to be suggesting that anybody who wants an objective scientific investigation cannot be skeptical. Although I believe you would like to paint a different picture I think I would require more in the form of credible evidence than you in order to accept that aliens have been here. Rather than differing in degree of skepticism I think we really differ in that you tend to feel that credible evidence of actualities is supposed to fall on our laps without us having to do any legwork while I think most such evidence must be acquired through scientific research. I have repeatedly made the point that I am not saying that the memo is so much as authentic much less accurate but it is supposed to be a very high level FBI correspondence saying that so-called flying saucers and aliens have been recovered. Although the contents sound ridiculous my perspective is that we can't simply allow such a memo to stare us in the face while doing nothing and respect science at the same time. In the name of science I think the memo has to objectively be put to rest. Any credible evidence that might be associated with it is probably not going to fall on our laps so the memo probably will not be put to rest without a scientific analysis of what it means. Too much of a good thing can result in a bad thing. Skepticism is a good thing but when applied to the extent that it interferes with science it becomes a bad thing. I appreciate that you think the memo necessarily is absolutely worthless. I hope we can agree to disagree on this point.

The memo seems to be the result of an incredibly ludicrous breakdown in communication between an Air Force investigator and the Director of the Washington DC Field Office of the FBI. It seems that the flying saucer/aliens story in it was perpetrated as part of a hoax to sell bogus oil locating equipment by one lifelong con-artist named Silas Newton. By way of gossip the story made its way through the news media. In response the OSI conducted an investigation. From there it seems that the Air Force investigator was to (or thought he was to) report the gossip rather than any related facts per OSI/FBI files and his report was subsequently misinterpreted by the DC FBI Director as founded in factual government sources.
Accordingly, the misinterpretation seems to have resulted in the memo.